Contents

A. Tense --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

B. Present Tense: --------------------------------------------------------------- 1

(i)Simple Present Tense: --------------------------------------------------- 1

(ii) Present Continuous tense: ------------------------------------------- 3
(iii) Present Perfect Tense: ------------------------------------------------ 3
(iv) Present Perfect Continuous tense: ------------------------------- 4
C. Past Tense: -------------------------------------------------------------------- 5

(i) Past Continuous tense: -------------------------------------------------6

(ii) Past Perfect tense: ------------------------------------------------------ 6
(iii) Past Perfect Continuous Tense------------------------------------- 7
D. Future Tense: ---------------------------------------------------------------- 7

(i) Simple Future Tense: --------------------------------------------------- 7

(ii)Future Continuous Tense: ---------------------------------------------8
(ii) Future Perfect Tense --------------------------------------------------- 9
(iv) Future Perfect Continuous Tense. ---------------------------------9
E . Birds eye view --------------------------------------------------------------10

F. Solved examples ------------------------------------------------------------10

G. Practice yourself ------------------------------------------------------------ 11

H. Solutions --------------------------------------------------------------------- 11
 CHAPTER-12
TENSE
A. Tense
In English grammar, tense is the time of a verb's action or its state of being.
For e.g. played, play, danced, danced etc.
In English Grammar tenses are divided into three broad categories namely:

Past

Future Present

Tense

B. Present Tense:
Present tense is a tense expressing an action that is currently going on or is
habitually performed, or has a state that currently or generally exists.
Present tense is further divided into four sub-categories namely:

1. Simple present tense

2. Present continuous tense

3. Present perfect tense

4. Present perfect continuous tense

(i)Simple Present Tense:

The present indefinite or simple present tense, denotes a stative or a habitual

or an eternally true action.
For e.g. I watch cartoons everyday
Water boils at 100 degree celcius. Etc.

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Rules:
The rule of making sentences in Simple Present tense are as follow:
Assertive: S + V1 + O
For e.g.- I play badminton everyday
They play badminton everyday
Negative: S + do/does + not + V1+ O
For e.g. We do not play badminton everyday.
She does not play badminton everyday.
Interrogative: Do/does + S+V1 +O + ?
Do I play badminton everyday?
Does he play badminton everyday?

Note : When the subject is in third person (i.e. other than I, we, you) and
singular (i.e. only one) then we add ‘s’ or ‘es’ to the main verb 1) Also , kindly
note while using do or does we follow the rules of subject-verb
agreement.

Uses of Simple Present Tense

● It is used to express the habitual actions
For e.g. I drink coffee every morning.
● To express general truths
For e.g. The sun rises in the east.
● In exclamatory sentences beginning with here and there to show what is
actually taking place in the moment
For e.g. Here comes the bride!
● In vivid narrative
For e.g. Ronaldo moves forward towards the goalpost.
● To express a future event that is an element of a routine.
For e.g. The next train leaves at 8:00 am.
● Simple Present tense is also used in quotations:
For e.g. Shakespeare says, “What’s in a name?”

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● It is also used in clauses of time and condition instead of Simple Future
Tense.
For e.g. If it snows, we shall get wet.
(ii) Present Continuous tense:
The present continuous verb tense indicates that an action or condition is
happening now, frequently, and may continue into the future.
Rules:
The rule of making sentences in Present Continuous tense are as follows:
Assertive: S+ am/is/are + V1 + ing + O
For e.g. I am reciting a poem.
Negative: S+ am/is/are + not + V1 + ing + O
They are not reciting a poem.
Interrogative: Am/Is/Are + S + V1 + ing + O + ?
Are we reciting a poem?
Uses of Present Continuous tense:
The Present Continuous tense is used for an action going on at the time of
speaking.
For e.g. - My sister is singing a song
For a temporary action that may or may not be happening at the time of
speaking
For e.g.- I am reading Othello these days.
For an action that is pending to take place in future.
For e.g.- I am visiting my aunt tonight
For a habit that has been continuing since, a long time
For e.g. My children are very naughty; they are always screaming in the class.

(iii) Present Perfect Tense:

The present perfect tense refers to an action or state that either occurred at an
indefinite time in the past (e.g., we have met before) or began in the past and
continued to the present time.
Rules:
Assertive: S + has /have + V3 + O

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For e.g. We have done the work.
Negative: S+ have/has + not + V3
For e.g. She has not studied for the test.
Interrogative: Have/has +S + V3 +0 + ?
Have you watched this movie?
Uses of Present Perfect tense:
Present Perfect tense is used to:
● Indicate an activity completed in the immediate past.
For e.g. My brother has gone out
● To indicate the past actions whose time we are not aware about.
For e.g. My cousin has been to Russia.
● To describe past events remembered in the present to think of the
consequences.
For e.g. Tommy has eaten all the biscuits.
● To denote an action that must have begun in the past but have continues
in the present.
For e.g. I have studied German since a long time now.
(iv) Present Perfect Continuous tense:
The present perfect continuous tense (also known as the present perfect
progressive tense) shows that something must have started in the past and is
still continuing.
Rules:
Assertive: S + have/has + been + V1 + ing + O
For e.g. I have been studying this chapter since the last ten minutes.
Negative: S + have/has + not + been + V1 + ing + O
She has not been watching TV for five hours now.
Interrogative: Have/has + S + not + been + V1 + ing + O?
Have they been scolding the students of 7-A till now?
Uses:
Present Perfect Continuous tense is used for an action which must have begun
at some point in the past and is still continuing.
For e.g. He has been walking for two hours now.

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This tense is also, at times used to show the actions that have already taken
place.
For e.g.- Why are you sweating?
I have been running on the treadmill.
C. Past Tense:
The past tense is used for a past activity or a past state of being.
For e.g. I ate my sandwich.
Past tense is further divided into four sub-categories.
1. Simple Past tense
2. Past Continuous tense
3. Past Perfect tense
4. Past Perfect continuous tense

The Simple Past tense is used to show an action completed in the past.
For example, I drank tea yesterday.
Rules:
Assertive: S+V2+O
For example, I ate an apple yesterday.
Negative: : S + did + not + V1+ O
We did not eat an apple yesterday.
Interrogative: Did + S + V1 + O + ?
Did you eat an apple yesterday?
Uses of Simple Past tense:
● The Simple Past tense is used to indicate an activity completed in the past.
For e.g. I walked two kilometers yesterday.
● It is also used to show the habits once existed in the past
For e.g. My friend visited me everyday in college.
● Sometimes the Simple Past tense does not have an adverb of time
For e.g. I learnt Arabic in Arab.

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TENSES
(i) Past Continuous tense:

The Past Continuous tense shows an action that must have been happening at
one point of time in the past.
Rules:
Assertive: S + was/were+V1+ing +O
For e.g. Ron was going to Hogwarts.
Negative: S + Was/Were + not + V1 + ing + O
For e.g. Monalisa was being painted by Leonardo da Vinci
Interrogative: Was/Were + S + V1 + ing + O + ?
Were we playing badminton yesterday?
Uses of Past Continuous tense.
● The Past Continuous tense represents an action that must have been going
on in the Past at one point of time.
For e.g. I was watching TV in my room when my mother came in.
● Past Continuous tense is also used with always , continually to show an action
continuing in the past.
For e.g. I was an ever smiling angel.
(ii) Past Perfect tense:

Past Perfect tense describes an action that must have gotten completed before
a certain point of time in past itself.
For e.g. I had finished studying before my dad walked into my room.
Rules:
Assertive: S+had+V3+O
For e.g. Mani had won the tournament last year.
Negative: S + had + not + V3 + O
For e.g.Reddy had not gone to his friends.
Interrogative: Had + S + V3 +0 + ?
For e.g. Had Sushmita done her work?
Uses of Past Perfect Tense:
The Past Perfect describes the two actions that must have taken place closely
and shows which action must have happened earlier than the other.
For e.g. I ate even before I got asked for lunch.

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(iii) Past Perfect Continuous Tense

The Past Perfect Continuous tense is used to indicate an action that must have
begun before a certain point in the past and continued upto a certain time in
the past itself.
For e.g. I had been watching the series since yesterday.
Rules:
Assertive: S+had +been+V1+ing+O
I had been watching the match since, yesterday.
Negative: S + had + not + been + V1 + ing + O
We had not been watching the match since yesterday
Interrogative: Had + S + been + V1 + ing + O + ?
Had they been singing the song?
Uses of Past Perfect Continuous tense:
Past Perfect Continuous tense is used to show an action that must have begun
before a certain point in the past and must have continued till some time.
For e.g. I had been waiting for my cousin since an hour, before she came.
D. Future Tense:
Future tense is used to talk about the things, events or occurrences that will be
taking place in the coming times.
For e.g. I will come to your house tomorrow.
Future tense is also divided into four sub-categories namely
1. Simple Future tense
2. Future Continuous tense
3. Future Perfect tense
4. Future Perfect continuous tense

(i) Simple Future Tense:

The simple future tense is used to refer to actions or states that are yet to
happen. These events have not taken place till now, but will happen sometime
in the future:
For e.g. I will drink black coffee tomorrow.

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Rules:
Assertive: S+shall/will+v1+O
For e.g. I will attend the lecture on Monday.
Negative: : S+shall/will+not+v1+O
We will not attend the lecture on Monday.
Interrogative: Shall/will+sub+V+O+?
Shall they attend the lecture on Monday?
Uses of Simple Future Tense:
● Simple Future tense is used to talk about things that can’t be controlled.
For e.g.- I shall be twenty three next Wednesday.
It will be Christmas in a week.
● We use this tense to talk about things that will happen in future.
I think, it will rain tonight.

(ii)Future Continuous Tense:

Future Continuous Tense is used to talk about an action that will be in progress
at a time in the coming time.
For e.g. I will be attending the Film Festival on Monday.
Rules:
Assertive: S+ shall/will+ be+ ing form+ O
I will be covering this news.
Negative: S + shall/will + not +be+ V + ing + O
We will not be meeting on Sundays.
Interrogative: Shall/will + S + be + V, + ing + O + ?
Shall we be meeting on Sundays?
Uses of Future Continuous Tense:
● We use Future Continuous Tense to show the actions that will be taking
place in the future
For e.g.- I think I will be watching the show live
● We also use this tense to talk about the already planned actions.
For e.g. The plumber will be coming soon to our house.

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(ii) Future Perfect Tense

Future Perfect Tenses show actions that will be completed by a certain time in
future.
Rules:
Assertive: S+ shall/will/have+V3+O
We will have done our H.W. by Monday.
Negative: S + shall/will + not + have + V3 + O
We will not have done our H.W. by Monday.
Interrogative: Shall/will + S + have + V3 + O + ?
Will we have done our H.W. by Monday.
Uses of Future Perfect Tense:
● The Future Perfect Tense is used to talk about actions that will be completed
by a certain future time.

(iv) Future Perfect Continuous Tense.

The Future Perfect Continuous Tense is used for actions which will be in
progress over a period of time that will end in the future
Rules:
Assertive: S + shall/will + have + been + V1+ ing + O
For e.g. I will have been attending my felicitation ceremony on Monday.
Negative: S + shall/will + have + not + been + V1+ ing + O
I will not have been teaching for twenty years the next July
Interrogative: Shall/Will + S + have + been + V1 + ing?
Will they have been living in the same house by March?
Uses of Future Perfect Continuous Tense:
● It is used to denote actions which will be in progress over a period of time
that will end in the future.
For e.g. By next Monday , I will have been watering my plants for four years.

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E.
Bird’s-eye view

● Tense is divided into three major categories

Past Tense
Present Tense and
Future Tense
● Past tense denotes an action that must have already taken place
● Present tense denotes a habitual action, general truths or actions
happening in the present and Future tense shows an action that will be
happening in the future.
● Each of these tenses are futher sub-divided into four sub-categories.
● The verbs also change according to the tenses.

F. Solved examples
State ‘true’ or ‘false’ for the statements given below:
1. “I am washing my clothes” is in Present Perfect Continuous tense.- False
2. “I had been watching TV since one hour” is in Past Perfect Continuous tense-
True
3. “I will be meeting you tomorrow” is in Simple Future tense- False
4. “I have committed a mistake” is in Present Perfect tense.- True
5. “I ate my burger” is in Simple Past tense.- True

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G.
Practice Yourself

Identify the tense of the sentences given below:

1. I have been thinking about the incident of 1976-
2. I had seen a snake last year
3. I am learning English
4. I had been waiting for my bus at the bus stop
5. I have seen my new books

Identify the tenses by the rules given below:

1. S+V1+O -
2. S+has/have+V3+O
3. S+will have been+V+ing+O
4. S+had+V3+(articles)+O
5. S+had+ been+V+ing+O

H. Solutions

1. Present Perfect Continuous Tense.

2. Past Perfect Tense.
3. Present Continuous Tense.
4. Past Perfect Continuous Tense.
5. Present Perfect Tense

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TENSES

1. S+V1+O - Present Tense

2. S+has/have+V3+O- Present Perfect Tense
3. S+will have been+V+ing+O- Future Perfect Continuous Tense
4. S+had+V3+(articles/quantifiers)O- Past Perfect Tense
5. S+had+ been+V+ing+O- Past Perfect Continuous Tense

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